Bees and Cucumbers

Too hot to really work in the garden today but the early morning was OK for a little macro photography.
Here is a little nature for you. First there are bees we hope and then there are cucumbers. It's a great system we are trying to destroy.

Milkweed Success

I planted milkweed last year as was very disappointed. I actually though it had died. This spring it came back with a vengeance and I have a very nice stand. The variety is Virginia Silk if my memory serves me and it is just now blooming. The bees are having a go at it. Still haven't seen a Monarch but I have my fingers crossed.

Lazy Day

Not gardening today. Took Zoey for a walk in the Hembree Park and that looks like about all I get done outside today. I did water the greenhouse as I have a bunch of tender little plants to guard against the mid 90F heat. Other than that I am going to work on pictures and stuff where I can sit in the cool and drink iced tea. Took this shot of a couple of white tail the other day. There were actually three but one was very shy. It just amazes my that there are so many deer here in the middle of town. There are a few islands of woodland around but not that much.

Garden Critters

Lots of critters in the garden today. Nice cooling off from the last few days and we all enjoyed the morning. I actually remembered to take a real camera with me this morning instead of just the phone. The phone is an HTC M8 and has a pretty good camera but for stuff like close ups it can't match the Nikon D80. Got some good shots which I thought some you might enjoy. For thos interested the butterfly is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and there were three in the garden this morning. I was very excited to see the praying mantis and since he/she is from this season I would guess there are more and that means help with bad bugs.

Great Backyard Bird Count

If you are a wildlife buff then don't forget that this weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count. You can find out more about it at http://www.birdsource.org. It's very simple and only takes a little while each day and a little time to report your counts for each of the four days (2/15-2/18). Everything you need to know is at the website including downloadable forms.

Note: This is only for proper wild birds and not those you get for cutting off people in traffic.

Turkey Babies

They are not cooperating in the photo efforts but here is at least one picture of the new turkey family. There are a total of 9 chicks but some hide while the others eat with mom and then they change places. Mom patiently herds them along and waits as they all pop through the chain link fence before she bounds across. She wasn't too pleased when a squirrel got to close to the brood and chased him across the yard. We've been putting some chicken scratch out for them as you can see.

It's a Flock

Our daily turkey visitor surprised us today. Instead of just wandering around and pooping in the birdbath she brought her 9 chicks for a visit. Very tiny and surely just hatched. There is obviously a tom turkey somewhere around! I'm working on getting pictures so just bear with me. It was rather interesting to watch her chase squirrels and chipmunks away as to give her brood space. I find it rather amazing that with all the coyotes, hawks, owls and who knows what else that a lone hen turkey can brood 9 chicks and then have the brass to take them on a walkabout. This is in the middle of town no less. I have been throwing a bit of chicken scratch out in the morning for the turkey and I guess I had better buy another bag tomorrow at Tractor Supply. She has most obviously not read the latest Draconian statutes about backyard poultry enacted by the city.

Even Worse

 It's even worse than thought:

The estimated amount of oil leaking from a sunken rig in the Gulf of Mexico has increased to as much as 5,000 barrels a day—five times more than what was originally believed, a Coast Guard official said. Rear Adm. Mary Landry told reporters late Wednesday that the increased estimate is based on analysis from the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
“This is not an exact science when you estimate the amount of oil,” Landry said, noting there are a lot of variables in calculating the rate of the spill.
“However, NOAA is telling me now that they prefer we use the 5,000 barrels [210,000 gallons] a day as an estimate of what has actually leaked from this well and will continue to leak until BP secures the source.”

If I am not mistaken the spill from the Exxon Valdez which released 10.8 million gallons was the worst so far. It too was in a ecologically sensitive area but if it takes weeks to seal this off, as they are guessing,  then we are looking at exceeding the disaster of the Exxon Valdez in less than a month. This is going to be a another tremendous catastrophe.

As I said in an earlier post,  this will have tremendous consequences for the wildlife, fishing, and tourist industries along the Gulf coast but of all of them the ecology of the region will suffer the most and will be devastated for decades. I don't think the average person realizes just how important the region is for the survival of a wide array of wildlife.  Most people probably visualize beaches covered in oil and concerned people with their bottles of Dawn cleaning up ducks and pelicans and while this will happen on some small scale  the complexity of the Gulf Coast and vast tidal wetlands will be impossible to protect and there is not even a remote chance of any but a small portion getting cleaned up. The big beaches will get repaired at a cost of millions and years worth of work but the thousands and thousands of miles of remote Gulf coast will be impacted for a century or more. Species like the brown pelican that just recently managed to make it off the endangered species list will be decimated.

If we see this play out as they are now predicting this will be a disaster of epic proportions which will cast a legacy of destruction and irrevocable harm over one of the most sensitive natural areas in the world. We may well see the extinction of dozens of species of birds, oysters, fish and other wildlife. Yet the powers that be want to double or triple the number of off shore drilling platforms which is pretty defines insane in my book.

Bigger Birdbath?

I think I need a bigger birdbath. John Cole over at Balloon Juice has been trying to attract birds to his new digs with limited success. A water source is definitely a plus when trying to attract wildlife to your yard along with plenty of cover and food sources. Just make sure you size the water features appropriately.

Great Whale Pictures

Follow this link to see some great pictures of sperm whales interacting with humans off the coast of Dominica in the Caribbean. What a thrill it would be to swim with them. 

h/t to Chris at Americablog

Talking Turkey

I promised a picture of the wild turkey that showed up yesterday. She(I think) wandered all around and didn't seem at all concerned that I followed her around with the camera. She was just on the other side of my fence in the vacant lot next door rummaging around in the forsythia and not more than 12 feet away. She then jumped up on a log and posed for this shot. I had the 55-200mm VR lens on but could have taken this with the 18-55mm she was so close. We've seen her before but never this close. There are many a time I have tried to get shots of wild turkeys from 100's of yards away but they always disappear when they spot you. She seemed as curious about Madam and me as we were about her. Anyhow, here is the best of the 60 or so pics I got of her as she meandered the property. It is always amazing to see this kind of wildlife living in an urban area like metro Atlanta.

Note: you can click on the image to 'embiggen'.

Caribou Barbie is Coming to Nature TV

In what must be one of the most ironic things so far this year the Quitter from Alaska is teaming up with the Discover Channel to do a show "Sarah Palin's Alaska" for the Learning Channel. Couldn't the Discovery folks find someone just a little less notoriously anti-environmental to give a TV platform to?

Is everybody suppose to forget:

• Her hard fought campaign against polar bears getting endangered species status, going so far as to sue the federal government.
• Her fight against banning oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, even calling for increased drilling and famously coining her catchphrase "Drill, baby, drill!"
• Her continued insistence that climate change has nothing to do with human activity.
• The minor fact that she spent $400,000 of state money to fight hard against Measure 2, which would have banned hunting wolves from airplanes for sport.
• Palin was against Alaska's Measure 4, a clean water initiative that aimed to protect Bristol Bay, one of the world's most productive salmon fisheries, from the proposed Pebble Mine, which would discharge cyanide and mining waste into streams that flow into Bristol Bay.

Birds in Snow

Birds were hot and heavy at the feeders today. In case you don't recognize them we have a male cardinal, a trio of a female cardinal and a male eastern bluebird with a male cardinal under. Finally there is a little hairy woodpecker waiting for his turn at the suet feeder. 

  

Rodent Conflict

Here is the official report from Georgia on Groundhog Day.

Gen. Beauregard Lee(Marmota monax), also known as a woodchuck or whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, gave his annual Groundhog Day prognostication Tuesday morning from his home at the Yellow River Game Ranch. The prediction was delayed when Gen. Lee got away from his handlers and hid, then climbed a fence behind his mock-mansion home. General Lee did not see his shadowas it was overcast this morning in Atlanta meaning we will have an early spring. I should note that this 180 degrees out of phase with  Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil, who did see his shadow.

Reasons To Have A Suet Feeder in Winter

Here are just a few of the reasons to keep a suet feeder filled in the wintertime. What you don't see here are Red Bellied, Downy, and Red Headed woodpeckers who come regularly. At times there are as many as 6 or 7 Eastern Bluebirds waiting to feed. The little Hairy woodpecker is a constant visitor between bluebird swarms. As usual you can click on the image to make it full screen.

Red Tailed Hawk

One of things about a wildlife habitat in the backyard is that you get both sides of the food chain. While I have lots of deer, wild turkey, opossum, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks and a wide variety of birds I also get the occasional predator. In this case it was an immature red tailed hawk that came and sat on the deck railing for a while waiting for an unwary chipmunk, dove or something else tasty. He/she sat and posed for a long time all the while keeping a close eye on the ground under the bird feeders. The hummers and chickadees pretty much ignored it but there was not much else venturing out. Even though they are a regular visitor I get just as excited each time they appear and always try and get a few pictures. It was late in the day and between cloudbursts but I managed to catch a few poses.

You can click on the pictures if you want to see them full screen.

For any of you that are interested these were taken with a Nikon D80 using the 55-200 VR Zoom.

Friends are Where You Find Them

A nice story and pics my daughter sent but I don't know who was the original author.

The Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara, CA (or Santa BBQ as Cookie Jill would say)last week caused these two to take shelter together. The fawn is 3 days old and the bobcat about 3 weeks. The fawn came from somewhere in the fire and the bobcat from Carpentaria. They immediately bonded and snuggled together under a desk in the Santa Barbara County Dispatch Office for several hours.

Reportedly the bobcat kitten was rescued near Arnold Schwarzenegger's ranch, where it was dehydrated and near death.

They rescued the fawn during last week's wildfire.

Although wild animals, especially of separate species, are never placed together due to regulations, in this emergency situation, they had no choice.

During the mayhem of the fire, they were forced to put animals anywhere they could, since they had run out of crates large enough for the fawn. The kitten ran to the fawn, and it was instant bonding.

Morning Visitors

It was pretty early and there wasn't enough light to get a good picture. Pretty amazing considering we live in the city. Granted there is some wooded space around but still....

Caught In the Act

Who knew squirrels liked tomatoes? This fellow is on his second or third. Do you think he is the one that ate all of the Italian parsley as well? You'll notice that it doesn't look like he/she has missed too many meals.

Punk Squirrel?

It's bad enough that the squirrels and chipmunks are eating me out of house and home, digging up my vegetable beds, and planting large quantities of sunflower seeds in every pot on the deck and every flower bed but now I have to put up with punk wildlife!

Somehow this fellow got mixed up with some red paint and got it all over his tail and apparently nowhere else...can't imagine how that would happen. I caught him this morning stealing suet from the birds. A couple of years ago I noticed a squirrel with a beef bone around his neck and quite tightly. I did manage to catch him and turn him over to animal rescue who removed the bone and set him free somewhere in the wilds of Georgia. Another wildlife mystery.

Anyhow...thought it worthy of a post and pic.